


Citrus Scars

by ToTheMax



Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, I love these two a lot and now u have to deal with it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-29
Updated: 2019-06-29
Packaged: 2020-05-29 15:15:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19402939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToTheMax/pseuds/ToTheMax
Summary: Clementine and Minerva have a night of reflection. At first, looking back on the past seemed like a nice trip down memory lane, but memories of the past stir up that they had been wanting to forget.





	Citrus Scars

**Author's Note:**

> LISTEN the clemerva tag has like NOTHING and I'm also in a fun little thing with my friends called AngstFest (Sponsored By Monster Energy) where we each write an angsty one shot and I really love these girls ok why isnt Clemerva more popular
> 
> This is set in an au where Minnie came to the school the day after Marlon's death (she was with Lilly and Abel and ran away from them when Clem and AJ did) and since Delta is now expecting a retaliation with Minnie in their ranks they spend more time preparing before the raid, hence the 3 week gap instead of the canon 2 weeks. But hey that's more time for Clem and Minnie to be pining over each other amirite

Clementine wrestled her top jacket off with an aggravated sigh, another pulse of heat coursing through her body. Summer was perfect from a survival standpoint: there's plenty of game to hunt for food, more daylight hours means more time to get things done, and overall it's much easier to survive in the summer.

But from the standpoint of a Georgia-born girl that  _ should  _ be used to the heat by now, especially now that she was living in a more northern state, Summer was like Hell. 

It was so hot, she might as well be standing in the fire pit in the courtyard. Of course it didn't help she wore two jackets, but she was in the middle off fixing that problem. The second jacket unzipped and was tossed to the corner of her bed as she sat down, rubbing the sleeves of her henley up to her elbows. Even during the night, the sweltering summer found a way to make her miserable.

A sudden rapping at the door made her jump a little, but she sat back in her bed and called out, “Come in!” She reached down and scratched her leg as the door opened. “Minerva.”

The redhead was standing in the doorway with a candle in one hand, seeming just a little tired. Her normally flat hair was frizzed up and pushed to the side of her face, halfway hanging in her eyes. “Hey,” she greeted, “Violet and I did the last few checks around the border, she's taking lookout for the night switching off shifts with Ruby and Mitch.”

Clementine smiled and nodded. “That's good.” She brought her leg up and watched as her roommate wandered into their room, setting the candle on the bedside table. “How are you settling?” Three weeks had passed since Marlon's death and Minerva's sudden comeback to the school. It was such a sad sight to see her in, bloody, beaten and a few steps away from a full-blown panic attack, they couldn't turn her away.

Minerva shrugged honestly, swiping her coat off in a quick motion and tossing it onto the top bunk of the bunk bed she occupied. “If I'm being honest, I'm trying not to settle too much. Not until  _ they _ get here and all this blows over.” She laced her fingers between each other and set her hands behind her head. “I don't wanna get too comfortable, you know?”

Clementine hummed with a nod, taking her hat off to set on their bedside table. “I can understand that. But we should be fine if everything you told us about them was true.”

“There's always a chance we could fuck up,” Minnie stated matter-of-factly. “Especially with them.”

“I just wonder why they haven't attacked yet.” Clementine stood up and leaned on the bedside table, eyebrows knit in frustration as she stared over the courtyard. “It's been, what--”

“Don't jinx it,” Minnie said with a warning tone, watching Clementine intently. “They could pop up any second. Realistically, they're probably getting more manpower back at camp. Then, they're gonna come back, and…” She swallowed heavily, not daring to finish her thought. 

Clementine knew what she was thinking. “Hey,” she said, soothing, “it's gonna be fine. We're gonna be alright. They might knock us out, but we'll wake back up.”

Minnie opened her mouth, but just sighed and sat back, planting her hands on either side of herself. “I just… I think I have a right to be worried. They're gonna be  _ here _ . Trying to take my  _ friends _ , and--” her breath hitched. “...and Tenn.” Her gaze rose to their closed door, her thoughts occupied with her little brother. “Dammit… he fucking hates me, but… I can't lose him too.”

Clementine bit her lip, gingerly flickering her eyes to her roommate. Then, she said, “I don't think he hates you. He's just--”

“--Avoiding me every chance he can, just like everyone else?” Minnie cut off while she crossed her arms. “Whatever, I don't blame him. Really, I… after what I did-- to-to Sophie--” She settled for crossing her arms and staring hard at the floor. “I hate myself too. I-I mean… I  _ would _ hate my-- okay, you get it.”

Clementine felt a pang in her chest, suddenly backstepping a little from her. For a moment, she didn't know what to say, her brain frozen in shock at Minnie's words.

Minnie filled the silence. “You know, I  _ really  _ just wanna fucking forget it. I wanna be able to just go to sleep and wake up the next morning without it on my conscience, but apparently that's too much to ask. And it's not helping that everyone acts like I have the fucking Plague, because they know what I did, and why Sophie didn't come back with me.”

Her hand reached up to her face, tracing the scar that cut her right eyebrow in two. “I can remember every-fuckin’-thing about it. From her first word to her last.”

Clementine slowly sat next to her, finally working her mouth into words. “You don't have to tell me, Minnie. I know it was hard on you, you don't have to relive it.”

“That's the thing.” Minnie took a shaky breath, her index finger pressed to her scar. “I'm constantly reliving it. It's always there-- even if it's just in the back of my mind-- I fucking _ killed her _ , Clem.”

Another pang shot through Clementine's chest, this time much more pertinent and lasting. So much so, it made her squirm in her seat, with fiery memories of her own on her mind.

The Ranch was always there. Just like Minnie said, even if it was just a whisper of a passing thought, the trauma of the past always found a way to make itself known when she didn't want it to. 

Minnie noticed her silence, and made an aggravated noise in the back of her throat. “Ah, shit. Sorry, I didn't mean to start rambling. I-- it just… you know.” She swallowed and kept her gaze at the floor. “...Sorry.”

“Don't be.” Clementine reached out and settled her hand on Minnie's back, softly rubbing it to try and be soothing. “You've been through a lot, Minnie. It can't be easy bottling it up like you do out there.”

Minnie didn't respond immediately. She gasped in a breath, trying to even her throat before words left her mouth. “I just… I want to blame them for avoiding me, but I  _ can't.  _ I mean--” She stuttered and clenched her fists. “I didn't… they're acting like I wanted to kill her, when I  _ really  _ didn't. But when you have three guns aimed at your head from three different angles and a crossbow in your hands aimed at who they're telling you to kill, with Lilly all but  _ screaming _ at you--!” 

She stopped to breathe, somewhat leaning into Clementine as she rubbed her back. She told a similar perspective when she initially spilled the truth, but it wasn't any less heartbreaking to hear. 

“Why aren't  _ you  _ avoiding me?” Minnie suddenly asked, lifting her head to glance at Clementine. “You and AJ.”

Clementine simply shrugged. “I… guess we've seen a lot out there. Plus with how sorry you are over all this, and the fact we didn't find you under the best conditions… I can't just let you struggle on your own.”

Minnie scoffed and shrugged. “So much for a good first impression. Hi, I'm Minnie, the war criminal at age seventeen.” She paused, then added, “Eighteen. I think. Fuck, I can’t remember.”

“Well, nice to meet you,” Clementine replied with the hint of a joking tone. “I'm Clementine, the…” she looked down at her crossed arms, trying to come up with something to one-up Minnie's remark about herself. “Well… I survived for eight years or so out there. That's gotta count for something, right?”

Minnie's face cracked into a smile as she leaned back in her palms. “With a scar like that--” she gestured to the gnarled grim line running along Clementine's forearm-- “I'd believe it.”

Clementine ran her fingers over the scar, tilting her head. “The story isn't as exciting as you'd think.” Her index finger grazed over a bump in the scar, where she neglected to pull out the stitches. “It was around the beginning of all this. Not the  _ very  _ start, but…” she shrugged in a vague  _ you know  _ gesture.

Minnie gingerly reached out and touched the scar, feeling the bumpy skin. “Jeez,” she whispered. “What, um… if you wanna tell me--”

“It was a dog,” Clementine answered quickly. She watched Minnie, almost ignoring the buzz in her arm left from her touch. “I, um… I got separated from my friend, and I found a dog at an abandoned campsite.” She leaned her head back, almost reliving the moments at the campsite. “He… really didn't like being pet. He played with the frisbee, though.” 

Clementine swallowed, trying to push out the memory of when the dog lunged. “I found a can of some food, and he wanted some. He…  _ really  _ wanted some.” She raised her arm to her face, Minnie's hand drawing away. “Luckily, this other group found me, but… they wouldn't help me right away, because they thought it was a walker.”

Minnie cocked her head, confusion squinting her face. “Wh…?” She looked down at her arm. “How the fuck does that look like a walker bite?”

Clementine chuckled a little. “Your guess is as good as mine. They locked me in their shed overnight to see if I would turn.” Her smile faded, and her eyes were locked on her arm. “And… I had to stitch it up myself.”

“Yikes,” Minnie breathed, eyebrows upturned in concern. “And you were  _ young _ back then.”

“No older than… twelve, I think.” Clementine nodded. “Yeah.”

Minnie shifted in her seat, rubbing her arms under her short green sleeves. “That  _ had  _ to be rough.”

“That whole group was rough,” Clementine admitted. “They were just… a bunch of broken people running from their past.” She shook her head, trying to shake off memories of  _ that  _ part of her past. 

Another pulse of heat suddenly waved over the two, and both of them seemed to feel it. “Christ,” Minnie hissed as she stood up, “I swear, if it gets any hotter, I'm gonna go sleep in the creek.”

Clementine nodded with a groan, rolling the sleeves of her henley up to her shoulders, rolling her arms back and forth to get some movement. “Yeah, it's  _ way  _ too hot out. I mean, I know it's summer and all, but…” she sighed and scratched the back of her neck, standing up off of Minnie's bed and starting to her own, all but flopping onto the worn mattress. 

Minnie rolled her sleeves up, too, and blew the candle on their nightstand out. She said something, but Clementine didn't process it; her eyes were locked onto a deep, dark scar on the back of her arm. It reminded her of her own dog bite, but it looked much deeper. More recent.

“Clem?” Minnie now was looking at her, somewhat confused. “You alright?”

Clementine jerked her head back, snapping out of her daze. “Uh, yeah,” she stammered, “I was… uh, I just saw the…” she vaguely gestured to Minnie's arm. “Um, what happened there?”

Minnie looked down, stretching her arm to get a good look at the injury. “Oh, that…” Her arms went to her sides, and she eyed Clementine's arm-- more importantly, the charred skin making up some sort of brand. “I'll tell you if you tell me what happened  _ there _ .” She took the spot on the bed next to Clementine, gently nudging the mark and feeling the rough skin.

Clementine looked down at her brand, biting her tongue. “Oh, that was from, uh, the siege I used to be with, in Richmond-- a city a ways away from here.” She watched once again as Minnie felt along the edges of the brand and tried to ignore the flutter in her heart. “They called themselves the New Frontier. They… took loyalty really seriously.”

“So they branded their members?” Minnie cringed a little. “Why aren't you still with them?”

“The whole loyalty thing.” Clementine sighed shakily, deciding to tell her. “AJ got sick one week, and-- against their orders, I got medicine for him.”

“They wouldn't give him medicine?” Minnie frowned. “Pieces a’ shit.”

Clementine scoffed. “Yeah, no kidding. Long story short, they found what I did and kicked me out.” She decided to omit the fact that AJ didn't come with her; that would be a story for another day.

“Assholes,” Minnie muttered, taking her hand away from the brand. “What kind of people just lets kids go sick?”

“Them, apparently.” Clementine sighed and coughed, expelling the lump that started to form in her throat. “Anyway, your turn.”

Minnie looked down at her arm, swallowing. She was silent for a moment before quietly murmuring, “This was when I was fighting Sophie.”

Clementine drew in a gasp, a pang striking her ribs. “Oh, shit… Sorry, I didn't mean to--”

“No, it's… you told your story, so… I can tell mine.” Minnie crossed her arms, shoulders hiked up a little. “When Lilly told me to shoot, I missed. I was shaking so much, and… I just couldn't hold the crossbow straight. Sophie… she took the opportunity to snatch my knife and just… started fighting for her life.”

Clementine, without thinking, wrapped her arm around Minnie's shoulders in a side-hug. Minnie leaned into her, continuing with a thickening voice.

“I kept telling her to just stand still. Lilly gave me a knife and told me to finish the job, and I--” She paused, her fingers digging into the center of the scar. “I lunged for her, and she just…”

Clementine didn't blame her for not finishing. Tears of her own started to pool in her eyes as Minnie tried to tamp down her sobs. She felt Minnie's arm around her back, and shifted to hug her better. 

They faced each other for only a moment before Minnie buried her face in Clementine's shoulder as they leaned back on the bed, almost leaned against the wall. “I'm so sorry,” Clementine finally whispered, threading one hand into Minnie's hair as she cried. “I'm sorry you had to go through that, I'm sorry Lilly  _ made  _ you.You don't deserve to be put in that situation-- nobody should.”

Minnie's only response was another sob as she clutched tighter onto the back of Clementine's shirt. She was feeling a flood of emotions drowning her and dragging her into the deepest part of her emotions, springing up every bottled up tear from the past three weeks and letting it crash in wracked waves from her body as she clutched Clementine, her life preserver in the storm.

They stayed like that for a while. Clementine let Minnie cry like she needed to, hiding her face in her neck, trying to breathe evenly to get her to do the same. 

It occurred to her at that time just how  _ broken  _ Minnie was, and how hopelessly powerless Clementine was to do anything about it.

Minerva was a fire log, that had been charring and burning with white-hot flame. It was warped and black, but it was still  _ her _ . The flame licked at every crevice it could, destroying her just as much in the inside as the outside, dropping the ashes of who she once was all around her as a foul reminder of who she can't be anymore. And no matter how badly Clementine wanted to help her, she couldn't reach out and grab the log, and she didn't have any water to douse the flame. 

She could only wait for the fire to die.

Eventually, Minnie stopped crying, but she still held fast onto Clementine, sniffling and keeping her face pressed into her shoulder. Clementine didn't prod her with questions; she kept them leaned against the wall on the bed with one hand running through her hair as she calmed down.

After another while, Minnie spoke, muffled by her position. “I didn't wanna kill her.”

Clementine breathed in slowly, feeling Minnie's shoulders rise as she tried copying the motion. “I'm sorry,” she murmured simply. “You're having to go through all this, and not even with anyone to just-- ask if you need help out there. You're on your own in this, and I know it's not easy.”

Minnie moved her head, settling her ear against Clementine's thudding chest. Her crystal eyes were staring at nothing, but she felt the tiniest bits of a smile on her face. 

“Well… with you, I don't feel so alone.”

The blistering summer heat may have been uncomfortable, but the warmth in Clementine's chest that burst made her feel right at home.

With her.

**Author's Note:**

> I have no plans to continue this at all but I hope u enjoyed this small hurt/comfort k thanks love u byeee


End file.
